Aesop's Fables; a new translation eBook

A Man and a Lion were companions on a journey, and
in the course of conversation they began to boast
about their prowess, and each claimed to be superior
to the other in strength and courage. They were
still arguing with some heat when they came to a cross-road
where there was a statue of a Man strangling a Lion.
“There!” said the Man triumphantly, “look
at that! Doesn’t that prove to you that
we are stronger than you?” “Not so fast,
my friend,” said the Lion: “that is
only your view of the case. If we Lions could
make statues, you may be sure that in most of them
you would see the Man underneath.”

There are two sides to every
question.

THE TORTOISE AND THE EAGLE

A Tortoise, discontented with his lowly life, and
envious of the birds he saw disporting themselves
in the air, begged an Eagle to teach him to fly.
The Eagle protested that it was idle for him to try,
as nature had not provided him with wings; but the
Tortoise pressed him with entreaties and promises
of treasure, insisting that it could only be a question
of learning the craft of the air. So at length
the Eagle consented to do the best he could for him,
and picked him up in his talons. Soaring with
him to a great height in the sky he then let him go,
and the wretched Tortoise fell headlong and was dashed
to pieces on a rock.

THE KID ON THE HOUSETOP

A Kid climbed up on to the roof of an outhouse, attracted
by the grass and other things that grew in the thatch;
and as he stood there browsing away, he caught sight
of a Wolf passing below, and jeered at him because
he couldn’t reach him. The Wolf only looked
up and said, “I hear you, my young friend; but
it is not you who mock me, but the roof on which you
are standing.”

THE FOX WITHOUT A TAIL

A fox once fell into a trap, and after a struggle
managed to get free, but with the loss of his brush.
He was then so much ashamed of his appearance that
he thought life was not worth living unless he could
persuade the other Foxes to part with their tails also,
and thus divert attention from his own loss.
So he called a meeting of all the Foxes, and advised
them to cut off their tails: “They’re
ugly things anyhow,” he said, “and besides
they’re heavy, and it’s tiresome to be
always carrying them about with you.” But
one of the other Foxes said, “My friend, if
you hadn’t lost your own tail, you wouldn’t
be so keen on getting us to cut off ours.”